1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a cartridge that stores liquid such as ink or the like.
2. Related Art
As a cartridge that can be attached to and removed from a printing device, there is a cartridge that includes a liquid chamber that stores liquid such as ink or the like, a liquid supply port that supplies liquid to the printing device, an air introducing section that introduces air from the outside to the liquid chamber in accordance with supply of liquid to the printing device, a liquid detecting section that optically detects the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid chamber, and the like. In such a cartridge, the remaining amount of liquid in the liquid chamber needs to be detected accurately by the liquid detecting section, and in particular, false detection caused by air bubbles in the ink due to introduction of the air needs to be reduced.
Thus, as a configuration of a cartridge for accurately detecting the remaining amount of liquid, for example, a configuration has been known in which a partition wall is provided in a region between the air introducing section and the liquid detecting section so as to capture air bubbles by the partition wall, and air bubbles generated due to introduction of the air can be prevented from entering a partition on the liquid detecting section side (for example, Patent Document 1). Also, a configuration has been known in which a filter is provided in the vicinity of a liquid detecting section, with the filter being made of a porous material through which liquid and air bubbles can pass, and small air bubbles passing through the filter gather so as to form large air bubbles (for example, Patent Document 2). Further, a configuration has been known in which an ink flow passage is provided in the vicinity of a liquid detecting section, and air bubbles are pressed and collapsed in the ink flow passage so as to form larger air bubbles (for example, Patent Document 3).
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-342992 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-17599 (Patent Document 2) and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-237096 (Patent Document 3) are examples of the related art.